


It Always Rains in the Fire Nation

by Royal Society of Pandas (Abarcelos)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, AtLA AU, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Poor Attempt at Writing a Cockney Accent, Slow Burn, because it's Oikawa, but honestly I just made it Worse, he deserved so much better, of course there's angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9894863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abarcelos/pseuds/Royal%20Society%20of%20Pandas
Summary: '“You’ll meet Oikawa tomorrow, don’t worry about it.” Issei said, waving his hand dismissively.“Yeah, Hajime, and then you can ask him all the questions you want!” Makki added. “As soon as you see a kid landing a black dragon in the courtyard and then entering the classroom like he’s the fucking Fire Lord, that’s when you know it’s him.”Hajime really couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.'





	1. The Orphan From Harbour City

**Author's Note:**

> By literally no one’s request here I am with another au!!! I've had this idea for the longest time, ever since someone on tumblr requested atla au Daishou for a drawing. Anyway, hope you like it and, yes, I'm still gonna post the last chapter of LCS, chill.
> 
> (No Iwa-chan in this chapter, but plenty in the next one!)

It had been the first sunny day after almost a week of rain, and, for that, Tooru was glad. The ground was still wet and the air still musky, but as long as there was no water falling from the sky, all was well.

There were multiple downsides to the rain, many stuff that made Tooru dislike it. For starters, he couldn’t keep a fire going to keep him warm through the night. There was also the fact that he couldn’t always find shelter from the rain and ended up soaked and maybe sick. But the worst part was that people didn’t like going out when it was raining.

Tooru really depended on people going out of their homes, because, if they didn’t, there was no one for him to pickpocket which also meant no food for the day. So when he woke up that day to no rain and loads of people on the streets, Tooru was relieved, to say the least.

"Well, look 'oo it is!" Kosui said as soon as Tooru entered the familiar shop. "'Aven't seen ya in forever, boy"

One Man's Trash was a dusty old antiques shop tucked between a flaming noodles restaurant and a small market. Like everything in this part of town, the shop was falling to pieces. The shelves were rusty, the products were less than appealing, there were monkey-spider webs everywhere, and Tooru was almost sure that the stairs in the back led to some sort of illegal brothel. Not that he knew much about those– he was just a kid after all.

Kosui was the owner of One Man's Trash and, much like his shop, he was dusty and old, falling to pieces. Tooru never saw the man leave his chair once, he was always there, either eating something filthy or counting his money.

Tooru made his way to the counter and climbed the too-high stool to sit on it. Kosui set aside the copper pieces he had been counting before Tooru came in and looked him in the eyes.

"It's not me fault. People don't really go out when it's raining." Tooru said, crossing his arms.

"What ya got there for me, ya little rat?" Kosui asked. Tooru shoved his small hand into his pocket and took out a simple brass pocket watch. It was dirty and it didn’t close properly, but it was the best he could get. “Huh. This watch ‘as seen better days, that’s for sure”

“Yeah, well, it’s still worth something, innit?” Tooru gripped the counter, trying not to raise his voice too much. He worked hard for that watch.

Kosui took the watch in his hands to get a closer look, all while Tooru stared at him, anxiously. Kosui ran his fingers over every rust and indent, over the crack on the glass and the fading pattern on the front. “I'll give ya… Three copper pieces for the watch” he said.

“At least five.” Tooru bargained. Kosui sighed and took the money. He counted the copper pieces and threw four over at Tooru, who quickly gathered them and shoved them in his pocket.

“Four, cause I know ya had a tough week.” Kosui said, shoving the watch in a drawer. “Ya know, black dragon leather is pretty expensive. Could probably getcha loads of gold pieces if ya know who to sell it to.”

Kosui was staring at Tooru’s shoulder, where a baby dragon slept peacefully. Its scales were as black as the night sky, reflecting the sunlight that came through the windows. “If I see a black dragon somewhere, I'll keep tha’ in mind.” Tooru said.

“Ah, c’mon kid, we both know that lit’le beast on yer shoulder can get ya some good money.”

“Rin’s not for sale.”

“Heh, at least I tried. But if ya change yer mind, I can getcha a good deal on her.” Kosui took another copper piece and gave it to Tooru, who eagerly accepted it. “Go buy yourself some apple juice too.”

Tooru hopped off the stool and turned to leave the store, dreaming about the nice plate of noodles he was going to eat shortly. As soon as he opened the door to walk out, he could hear Kosui whisper to himself, “Yer ge’ing too attached to the kid, Kosui.”

Not making much of it, Tooru left the store. He walked over to the restaurant next door, happy to see that there was no line – not that there usually was a line, but it was still nice to be able to order right away.

The lady on the counter gave him a nice smile as soon as he entered. He walked over to her and put the five copper pieces on the counter, which he just barely reached, and asked, “Can I get a small serving of simple noodles and a glass of apple juice, please?”

“Sure thing, Tooru.” She said, still smiling warmly at him. “And I'll make sure to throw in some extra chicken just for you.”

“Thanks Mrs. Kobayashi!” Tooru went over to his usual spot to wait. Rin, who was now awake, sat on the table in front of him playfully biting his fingertips.

Tooru loved that restaurant, and whenever he had money he would most likely go there to eat. It was small and not very appealing – but, again, nothing in Harbour City was. But the food was good and Mrs. Kobayashi was kind, so he didn't mind the mismatched chairs and the slightly crooked table, or the exposed brick wall and the lack of windows.

After a few minutes of waiting, Mrs. Kobayashi came out of the kitchen with a bowl on one hand and a glass of juice on the other. She set them in front of Tooru and the bowl, he noticed, was larger than the usual. He looked up at her with a quizzical look on his face.

“It sure has been raining a lot lately. Can't help but notice you seem to get skinnier every time that happens.” Mrs. Kobayashi said. After giving him a wink, she walked back to the counter.

Tooru looked at his food and smiled. He took a few pieces of chicken and set them in front of Rin, who ate them eagerly. Tooru's own food didn't last that much longer either.

 

* * *

 

The main road of Capital City, which linked the harbour and Royal Caldera, was thankfully empty. Tooru would always go there to be alone, when the big kids picked on him.

Rin was curled up on Tooru's lap as he pet her. Occasionally, a carriage would pass, certainly rich people returning to their homes after buying the most expensive stuff they could find on the ships that had just arrived from the Earth Kingdom. None of them stopped for the poor, dirty and bruised eight-year-old by the side of the road. Tooru counted one, two, five carriages full of riches come and go. To them, he could as well be a tree or a bush, so unimportant that it was not worth to be bothered by.

Until the sixth carriage came by and stopped right in front of him.

Tooru didn't know what to do. A random carriage with more gold encrusted in it than he could ever dream of having for himself was parked right there. He faced the door, dreading what the passengers might want with him but not finding the strength within him to run away.

The door opened suddenly, and out came the most beautiful woman Tooru had ever seen. She looked regal, standing tall in her burgundy robes and gold headdress. Her honey eyes were kind, if not a little bit sad, and her mouth was curved in a gentle smile.

A man got out not long after her. He was big and muscly, Tooru thought he looked like a soldier. Maybe he was. But the man still looked at Tooru like he was afraid of breaking him if he looked too hard.

“Hello, little one.” The woman said in a warm voice. “You look like you need help, huh. What is your name?”

“T-Tooru.” He answered, unsure of what to do or what his options were.

“Nice to meet you, Tooru.” The woman said as she bowed. Tooru just pulled on his shirt shyly– he hadn't exactly had any etiquette lessons growing up. “My name is Kaori, and this is my husband Lu Ten. Are you lost? We can take you to your parents, you don't look like you should be by yourself right now.”

“Dunno where they are.” Tooru said. Every word that came out of his mouth made him feel more self conscious about his accent, so _dirty_ in comparison to Kaori’s prim and proper one. “Never met me dad. Me mum abandoned me when I was younger.”

“Oh, you poor thing. M” Kaori put her hand over her heart and looked at her husband.

“And don't you have anyone who takes care of you?” Lu Ten asked.

Take care of him? Tooru had been by himself ever since he was four, until Rin came along the previous year. He found her by chance, underneath a bridge covered in mud and with a broken wing. They instantly became best friends.

And, sure, he had Kosui and mrs. Kobayashi who didn't let him, well, _starve to death,_ but no one had ever truly taken care of him. Not like a family, that is. So Tooru just shook his head as an answer.

“Just you and your little dragon, huh? You are very brave, Tooru.” Kaori said. “And how did you get, uh… That?” She pointed at the bruises on his arms and Tooru covered them with his hand in embarrassment.

“The big kids wanted me food. But I didn't let ‘em have it!”

Both adults let out a quiet chuckle and smiled at him. Lu Ten put his hand on Kaori's back and said, “Listen, son, it's going to get dark soon and we wouldn't feel right leaving you here alone. Do you want to come back with us?”

“We can patch up those bruises and give you and your dragon some food! It would ease our minds knowing that you are at least a bit better.” Kaori said.

“I– I don't know if I–” Tooru started but was interrupted by Kaori.

“Please” Her eyes were soft and pleading, and Tooru found himself unable to decline the offer. “Wonderful! Let's go before the sun sets”

She hurried him inside as Lu Ten told the coachman to take them home.

“Yes, Mr. Oikawa” the man answered.

 

* * *

 

Tooru had never seen anything like Royal Caldera City.

For starters, everything was _huge_. Huge streets adorned with huge trees in front of huge gates that led to huge houses. Everything also seemed a lot cleaner and well put together. The cobblestones in the streets were nicely aligned, there was no litter as far as he could see, guards at every street corner and the walls were all _painted._ What was even more impressive was that whenever he saw a white wall, it wasn't yellow or full of black stuff or covered in posters and graffiti– it was actually white.

Kaori and Lu Ten told him that they lived near the palace, because Lu Ten was a general and needed to live close to Fire Lord Shoji. They also said that they were just returning from Ba Sing Se, where they had an important doctor’s appointment, and said that the city was a mess due to a peasant uprising. Why someone had to go to the Earth Kingdom to see a doctor, Tooru had no idea.

“Yes, Ba Sing Se has seen better days.” Lu Ten said, thoughtfully. “But at least the mess was happening near the palace, so we could carry on with our appointment without a problem.”

“I don't blame them, really, the Earth King has no idea what he is doing. Oh, but we got to meet Avatar Kyoshi!” Kaori exclaimed.

“Really? What she like? She seems awesome!” Tooru said excitedly.

“She is an amazing woman, so smart and kind.”

“And an amazing fighter, she's really powerful.” Lu Ten added. “I'm also pretty sure she's a giant.”

Tooru laughed and asked them to tell him more. They told stories of the other times they went to the Earth Kingdom, about the wonderful upside down Western air Temple that they visited once, and all of their trips across the Fire Nation.

They reached the house at nightfall. Out of every house Tooru had seen that day, that was the biggest. When they were past the gates, even though he couldn't see much because of the dark, he knew it was beautiful– the faint outline of big fountains, large trees and neatly trimmed hedges.

The stone pathway led to the front door, where they got out of the carriage. A woman opened the door to let them in the house, and Tooru just wanted to look at everything and enter every room. There were many rooms. The maid who opened the door for them looked quizzically at Kaori once she noticed Tooru, the unasked question clear as day on her face: _“Ma’am, who the hell is this kid?”_ She looked young, couldn’t be older than twenty.

“Naoko, dear, could you help little Tooru here to a bath and take care of those bruises, please?” Kaori asked the maid. “We also need to get him some clothes. Please tell your sister to go ask Mrs. Hanamaki next door if she can give us some of Takahiro’s old clothes, seeing as there are no shops open right now.”

“Of course ma'am. Come on, dear.” Naoko said offering Tooru a hand. He looked over at Kaori, half in shyness, half in unsureness. When she gave him a reassuring nod, he grabbed Naoko’s hand and followed her onto the second floor.

Naoko led Tooru through so many corridors that if someone had asked him to go back to the front door, he would have no idea where to even begin. At some point, she just shoved her head in a room and screamed, “Remah, boss wants you to go ask Mrs. Hanamaki if she can give us some of her son’s old clothes. It’s an emergency, don’t ask questions, just go!” Tooru didn’t ask questions either.

The bathroom, and Tooru never thought he would say this about a bathroom, was beautiful. A huge room with a big bathtub in the center, which resembled more a natural pool rather than a bathtub, seeing as it was made of rocks, but the smooth bottom and comfortable looking sitting places ruined the illusion. The round shōji window in the back was partially covered by a bamboo garden and there was a big looking glass on the wall to the right. Everything on that house seemed to always bear those two descriptions - _beautiful_ and _big_.

Naoko helped Tooru strip and go into the bathtub. The water was warm, probably heated by the nearby hotspot, and never before had he been so comfortable. Rin dove twice into the water to rinse the dirt off of her scales before settling on top of a stack of fluffy looking red towels.

“You look like you’ve been through a lot lately, huh, kid?” Naoko took a small wooden bowl and filled it with water from the bathtub, pouring it over Tooru’s head. She then took some sort of pink cream and started cleaning his hair. “Don’t worry, though, you’ll soon be as good as new.”

“I-” Tooru hesitated. This felt wrong, he didn’t belong in this place, he didn't even want to speak but he needed to say it. “I don’t feel like I should be ‘ere. I feel like I’m taking advantage of ‘em.”

“Who? Mr. and Mrs. Oikawa? It’s okay, they really like helping people, do it all the time. Especially children.” Naoko took Tooru’s arm gently and began tending to his bruises. “I think- I think it’s because they can’t have any. They’ve been trying for years, just came back from an Earth Kingdom doctor to see if she could help. Judging by the look on Mrs. Oikawa’s face, though, I don’t think she could.”

Tooru wasn’t convinced. What would a beautiful rich couple want with a street rat like him? Even though he was only eight, he knew everything came with a price, and he didn’t expect them to just let him eat their food and sleep on their bed for free.

Naoko sighed, running a careful hand through Tooru’s hair. “You don’t believe me, do you? I don’t blame you, you have plenty of reasons to be sceptical. But they’ll take care of you, dear, we all will. Pinky promise!” She held out her pinky and Tooru hesitantly interlaced it with his own.

There was a knock on the door and a woman entered the bathroom carrying some robes, all clean carefully folded. She looked a couple years older than Naoko, but they had the same olive complexion, dark brown hair and the same sharp hazel eyes. Tooru presumed that that was the sister Naoko called earlier.

“Hey, Mrs. Hanamaki got us these.” The woman gestured to the robes she was carrying. “She kept asking what they were for, but I didn’t know so now she hates me even more. Thanks for that, sister dearest.”

“Well I was kind of in a hurry, Remah, I’m sure you’ll survive.” Naoko walked up to her and took the clothes, sorting through them to find one that would fit. “And she only hates you ‘cause her son has the biggest crush on you.”

Remah sat down on a cushioned bench by the door, huffing. “He’s eight years old! What does she think I’ll do? Run away with him?”

“She’s always been a bit overprotective.”

“‘A bit’? The boy never leaves the house! If she keeps it up, he’ll either rebel or just be the most paranoid person ever. I don’t know which one is worse.”

Naoko set aside a set of robes and got a towel from the pile (Rin politely flying over from where she lied to sit next to Remah), opening it up in her arms and gesturing for Tooru to go over to her. Once he did, she hugged him with the towel, which was just about the softest thing Tooru had ever touched. As Naoko dried him, Remah grabbed the robes and walked over to them.

The robes were also really soft. Bright red and black, the colours vibrant in a way that would not be found anywhere in Harbour City, and the shoes made Tooru feel like he was stepping on clouds. He was still not sure about all the free kindness and still felt like he was just taking advantage of these people, but, for now, maybe this wasn't too bad. Besides, he would only be there for a week, at most, so Tooru made sure he would make the best of it.

 

* * *

 

 

After a week with the Oikawas, Tooru met their neighbour’s son. Every day he grew more attached to the Oikawas, to the maids, the cooks, gardners… everyone who either worked or lived in that house was nothing but kind. It just made it harder for Tooru to leave, but he had to. So that's what he was doing. He waited until everyone was busy and quietly left through the back door. It wasn't difficult, years of sneaking around trying to not die of starvation, or hypothermia, or murder, or whatever, it ended up helping when it came to go unnoticed by people.

It was as soon as he was out of the house and trying to figure out where to go, that he saw the kid. His hair was a weird shade of brown - almost pink - and he looked even scrawnier than Tooru did, which was a surprising feat. The boy was also sneaking out of the house right across from the Oikawas’, so, Tooru thought, maybe this kid could help him; it didn't look like it was his first time sneaking out and maybe it was worth a shot.

“Hey!” Tooru called. The kid look startled for a second, but upon realising that it was just another child calling him from across the street, he calmed down.

“What's up!” The kid called back. “Are you the Oikawa’s son? Huh, didn't know you existed. No offense. Whoa, is that a dragon on your shoulder? I've always wanted one, your parents are much nicer than mine!”

Tooru looked down at himself, with the clean expensive clothing and freshly bathed body, and could see where the confusion came from. He did share a similar shade of brown hair with Lu Ten, but aside from that, he had nothing else that resembled the couple.

“No, I'm not–” Tooru started saying, but the boy cut him off.

“It's okay, most people don't know I exist either. Mum doesn't let me outside, says I could get murdered or ran over by a carriage or something. My favourite one is ‘eaten by an eagle-puma’.” The boy extended a hand to try and pet Rin, but she leaned away and he gave up.

“But I'm no–”

“Never gonna happen, obviously. Eagle-pumas don't like the city. But she just worries too much, can't blame her, can I? I mean, I'm an only child, and the asthma doesn't help me much.”

“I–”

“Still sneak out every Saturday when she's over at the temple. I'd have gone crazy by now if I didn't. Oh, what's your name by the way? I'm Takahiro! Takahiro Hanamaki, but my friends call me Hiro, or Makki. Well, they would, but I don't have any. What did you say your name was again?”

Takahiro talked too much and much too fast. Tooru guessed that it was because he didn't usually have anyone to talk to, but that was just a guess. Still, he felt like he finally had room to breathe when Takahiro paused.

“I'm Tooru” he said softly.

“Nice to meet you! Where were you going?” Takahiro asked excitedly.

“Well… I need to find a way to Harbour City.”

Takahiro looked at him quizzically. “And what are you gonna do there? It's really dangerous! Besides, there's no way we'd be back before nightfall. I say we go to Liberty Square and have some ice cream! I love the Matsukawas' Ice Cream Parlour, but I'll let you choose.”

“I don't even have money on me.” Tooru tried to protest, but the boy was having none of it.

“I can pay this time! But next week’s on you!”

Tooru didn't know why, probably because Takahiro seemed nice, but he let himself be taken through the streets of Royal Caldera and to Liberty Square.

Hiro bought himself a chocolate and pepper ice cream and got Tooru a mochi one. It was good. Rin didn't like it, though. Hiro talked about his life and his overprotective mum, about his father’s job as admiral and how he didn't see him much because of it, about his crush on Remah, the Oikawas' maiden, and how Tooru was so lucky to live with her.

“I just wish I were a firebender.” Hiro said, lowering his head. It remained lowered for just another second, soon shooting up again with a smile. “You're a firebender, aren't you? The Oikawa’s are all firebenders!”

Tooru still hadn't had the heart to tell Hiro that he wasn't an Oikawa. The boy just seemed so… happy. Luckily…

“Yeah.” He answered. “I'm a firebender. I'm not very good, though.”

Suddenly, Hiro was shoving a used napkin in his face. “Set this on fire!”

Tooru set the napkin on fire.

Hiro cheered.

He ended up going back to the Oikawa’s after all.

 

* * *

 

 

After almost a month of living with the Oikawas, the guilt had slowly faded to the back of his mind. They loved Tooru, and Tooru loved them too, but he couldn't live with them forever and, sooner or later, he would have to leave.

“When are they gonna kick me out?” Tooru asked Naoko one day while she did the dishes. He was really fond of Naoko - not in the same way Hiro was _fond_ of her sister, Remah. He just enjoyed her company. He would follow her around most of the day, they would talk and Tooru would help her with some chores.

“They're not kicking you out, Tooru.” She replied.

“I can't live ‘ere forever, you know I can't.”

Naoko passed him a plate. Tooru dried it with the hand towel and put it in a pile with the other ones. Two of those plates alone were probably worth more than Tooru himself.

“Maybe not. But kicking you out would be the last thing they would do. I know them, Tooru, and they're not like that.”

Rin, who was as always sitting on his shoulder, licked his face, reassuring Tooru that everything would be alright. Naoko put the glass she was holding down and extended her soapy pinky out at him. “Pinky promise.” She added.

Tooru laced his pinky with Naoko’s and smiled.

Suddenly, the door opened and Kaori stepped into the room. She walked over towards them and pulled up a chair to sit next to Tooru, taking a wine glass from the drying rack and drying it with a cloth while Tooru did the same to a big serving spoon.

“Oh, Mrs. Oikawa, you don't have to-” Naoko tried to intervene, but Kaori held up a hand and interrupted her.

“Nonsense. Look at all these dishes, dear. I'd be happy to help.” She offered them a kind smile and set the dried glass in a golden tray, next to the other ones. “Did you two enjoy lunch today? I, personally, love chef Lee’s roast duck.”

“It's definitely one of my favourites, ma'am!” Naoko said, excitedly. “I really like his honey and pepper sauce.”

Kaori nodded and picked up a large bowl to dry it, but mostly she just stared at the carefully painted koi fish on the inside. “How about you, Tooru?” She asked.

“I liked it a lot!” He said. “I didn't even know you could eat duck; it's really good, too.”

Kaori laughed and turned to look at him. She lowered the bowl and showed him the design she had been staring at. It was of a light pink koi fish swimming around a string of jasmine leaves. “My friend Jin gave me this when Lu Ten and I got married.” She told him. “The jasmine leaves are the symbol of the Oikawa family, and the pink koi fish is the symbol of mine, the Hisakawa family. She said that it would bring us luck and prosperity.”

“It's really pretty.” Said Tooru.

“It is, isn't it?”

“Was she right about it?” He asked. “Jin, was she right about the luck and prosperity?”

Kaori thought for a while, before smiling fondly at him. “Yes, I like to think that she was.” She looked down at the bowl in her hands and took a deep breath. “Tooru, there's something Lu Ten and I want to ask you. Would you accompany me to his study?”

 

* * *

 

 

“I can't believe Mrs. Oikawa actually convinced my mum to let us go to school together!” Said an excited Takahiro Hanamaki as they entered the school grounds. Tooru had gotten the habit of calling him Makki, after the boy said that he had decided he didn't like being called Hiro, claiming that Hiro was his dad and not him. “Nine years I've been trapped in that house, and that's nine years too many! I feel like I can finally breathe, you know?”

Tooru took in his surroundings. There were dozens of kids running around wearing the same clothes as his and Makki’s, talking to their friends or just enjoying being on their own for now. The grass was extraordinarily green and perfectly cut, the ponds had just the right amount of lotus flowers, and the building itself looked like any other in Royal Caldera; which is to say, it was beautiful and huge and imposing, but not threatening. Never threatening, not anymore.

“I guess, yeah.”Tooru laughed. “But you already sneaked out every week.”

“But this is legal! It’s a whole new territory!” Makki suddenly dropped to the ground and started rolling around. “Amazing, outside grass! It’s like inside grass but with more freedom. I could eat this grass.”

“Stop being weird, Makki! People are staring, c’mon get up.” Tooru helped Makki up and both made their way to the classroom. Most seats were already taken and they had to sit in the back of the class, but neither minded much.

Tooru noticed people staring at them, and, although it didn’t make him comfortable, he couldn’t blame them. Not only had they enrolled in the middle of the year, therefore being complete strangers to the rest of the class, Makki was _really loud._ But he was also funny, and Tooru noticed a few kids letting out a small laugh at one of his jokes, before remembering that they weren’t in the conversation and looking away.

The teacher didn’t take much longer to arrive. He sat down at his desk and went through a few papers as the students sat down.

“Well, class.” He said with a smile. “I know this is unusual, but we have two new friends joining us today. They were previously homeschooled and from now on will be your classmates, so I ask you for your kindness and respect, okay?” The teacher turned to Tooru and Makki and gestured for them to get up. “If you would please introduce yourselves, we’ll then start the lesson.”

Makki was up in a second, bowing first to the teacher, then to the class. “I’m Takahiro Hanamaki. Nice to meet you!”

Tooru took a bit longer to get up. He was a bit nervous and unsure of how the class would react. What if they didn’t like him? Or made fun of him? It was a possibility. The teacher gave him a reassuring nod, and, like Makki had done, he bowed first to the teacher and then to the class.

“I’m Tooru Oikawa. Nice to meet you.”

 

 


	2. The Orphan From Ba Sing Se

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime looked up at Oikawa, at the brown eyes that studied his face thoroughly, the brown eyes that looked much older than 13 years of age.
> 
> “Hajime Iwaizumi,” He said.
> 
> “I’m Oikawa.”
> 
> “Takahiro Hanamaki,” Makki said, throwing a paper ball at Oikawa’s face.
> 
> “I’m Issei Matsukawa, the weird kid over there is Yuda, Makki has a crush on Risa, Oikawa stop intimidating poor Hajime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it took me forever, I know
> 
> In my defense, Uni is a nightmare and I barely have time to breathe

“Are we there yet?” Hajime asked his mother.

They had been travelling for over week and, understandably, Hajime was getting tired. Everything happened too fast after the funeral. One moment he was lying down on his bed back in Ba Sing Se and now…

Now he had been sitting in an uncomfortable train seat for the past 20 hours or so, and before that he was in a boat for six days, and before _that_ he was in another train for two days. So even though Hajime wasn’t as hyperactive as most 12 year-olds usually were, he still needed some sort of distraction.

His mother, who sat next to him reading a book ( _Tales of the Si Wong,_ by Liu Cheng), chuckled at his question. Naru Iwaizumi was an extraordinary woman, a superhero in all of her 153 cm of height. To her, travelling halfway across the world was no big deal; she could go kill an evil spirit riding on a flying bison and still be home in time to make dinner if she wanted to, Hajime was sure of it. His mother was strong, even after everything they had been through the past couple of years.

“Not yet, dear.” She answered. “But we’re almost there; give it a couple more hours.”

Hajime didn’t want to give it a couple more hours. He was debating whether or not he wanted to give it a couple more _minutes,_ he couldn’t possibly wait hours. He just wanted to get to their new house at that point. Screw the old one, it was too far away now for them to go back.

For much too long now he had been making up stories for the strangers around them. The water tribe couple were great warriors who decided to retire on Ember Island; the lady wearing too much makeup was from the circus, visiting her sick brother in North Chung-Ling; the man across from them was a spy, trying to arrest the young man in the weird hat, who was smuggling a cat-monkey into the Fire Nation. He was running out of people.

“I’m bored.” Hajime complained, resting his head on the window. They were passing a dense forest, the trees all seeming to blur together in a green blob, the sky seemed to get greyer with each passing minute which meant it would probably rain soon.

“You should get some sleep.”

“I caaaan’t. The train shakes too much, it’s hard to fall asleep.”

“Do you want me to read you one of the stories from the book?” His mother offered, gesturing at the copy of Tales of the Si Wong. “Maybe it’ll remind you of home.”

Hajime thought for a while before agreeing. He laid across the seat, resting his head on his mother’s lap and closing his eyes.

“Okay, this one is called ‘The Cold Nights of Zong Shi Leng are better spent alone’.” She said, clearing her throat. “’East of the Si Wong Rock, in a secluded and forgotten part of the desert, was a village named Zong Shi Leng. It was home to its fair share of Beetle-headed Merchants and sandbenders, but it was the children who stood out. It was said that there were more children in Zong Shi Leng than in the entire upper Earth Kingdom, running around the narrow streets, yelling unintelligible conversations. Most of them were parentless, no one sure of where they came from, only that they called Zong Shi Leng their home.’”

It didn’t take long for Hajime, lulled by his mother’s voice, to fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The funeral had been quick and not too full of people. It was a hot day out, so Hajime was somewhat glad it didn’t take too long. But saying goodbye was difficult nonetheless, and, despite the heat, he sat in front of the tomb and tried not to cry.

His father had been sick for so long, maybe it was for the best. He had been strong but in the end the illness got the best of him and suddenly their family of three turned to a family of two.

“Hajime.” His mother called. “C’mon dear, let’s go home before you get a heatstroke. You’ve been out in the sun too long.”

He got up reluctantly, walking towards her. “What happens when we leave?” Hajime asked.

It was so hot outside; the flowers didn't seem like they would last. The grass would go yellow, the earth would go dry and what would happen to his father? He was just lying there, away from everyone else. Hidden. Hajime didn't like it.

“After we leave,” His mother said, “We go home, we have lunch, in the afternoon we pay our respects to your father, we have a nice dinner, we sleep. Tomorrow... it may not seem so right now, but tomorrow the sun will rise the same time it always has, and we'll wake up like we always do and live our lives.”

“And what about dad?”

His mother hesitated. “Ren is in the spirit world now, dear. And I assure you that it is a wonderful place, full of grassy fields and the bluest sky and the best food; perhaps… a much better place than here.”

“Can we go there?” He asked hopeful. Naru kneeled down and brushed the dirt out of his white robes, then fixed his hair and stroke both his cheeks. Hajime knew immediately that the answer was ‘no’ and that she was just looking for a way to tell him.

“Not now, dear, no,” She said after a while, “But those we love, they’re not really gone when they leave. You see, when someone we hold dear leaves to go to the spirit world, we feel incomplete, because they took a little bit of us with them. But they leave a little bit of them with us too. We just need to remember your father, okay? Keep that little bit of him he left with us alive.

“Hajime, everyone carries a piece of the people they lost with them; some might say carrying that weight makes you a fool or makes you weak, but that’s not true. You have to carry that weight, carry it with pride. Say to the world, ‘yes, I carry the weight! It means that I loved someone and they loved me back, and they left with me a bit of their heart so that they can live on because I remember them.’ You have to remember them.”

Hajime held his mother’s hand as tight as he could. She was right, it was a weight and Hajime could feel the pressure of it. But if that was his father’s weight, he would carry it.

“Mum,” He called softly, as they exited the cemetery, “How do you know people are carrying the weight?”

“You can see it in their eyes,” She said, “In their smiles, the hunch of their back. Sometimes they carry a physical object that belonged to the person, a necklace or a pocket watch, something small.”

“I want to carry something that belonged to dad.”

“We’ll take a look at his bracelets when we get home, you can take one,” Naru smiled at him and Hajime noticed it was a different smile. It was still genuine but more reserved; the curve of her lips was different. She was carrying his father’s weight.

“Speaking of home,” She continued, “I received a hawk from your grandmother today. She said that it would be better if we stayed near family right now, and since your father’s parents passed away a long time ago and he didn’t have siblings, she asked if we would consider moving to the Fire Nation, to live near her and my brother and sister.”

Hajime stopped walking and looked at his mother, “Leave Ba Sing Se?”

“That is what she suggested, yes.”

“Do… Do you want to move back to the Fire Nation?”

“I want whatever you want, Hajime, you know you are my top priority.”

She wanted to move back to the Fire Nation.

“It’s been a long time since I last saw grandma… and I’ve never been there too,” He said, “Sounds fun, I guess.”

“You don’t need to answer right now, dear, take your time.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

In Hajime’s head it didn’t need that much thinking. All of their remaining family was in the Fire Nation, his mother worked at a spa so it wouldn’t be like she gave up a promising career, and Hajime never really had friends to begin with.

He knew his grandmother lived in Royal Caldera, in the Fire Nation Capital, and owned a big teashop where his mother would probably work if they were to move there. There were also his cousins who he had never met; he didn’t even know their names, but at least he wouldn’t be alone there either.

Yes, moving to the Fire Nation seemed like a good idea.

 

* * *

 

 

The White Dragon Tea House was cosy. Hajime didn’t know how else to describe it, because that’s what it was – cosy. Everything there reminded him of his grandma, from the large pink rug in the centre to the smell of incense, the same she used in her house. There were light pink drapes in every column, pink lanterns, pink cushions, everything contrasting with the dark hardwood floor and furniture.

Hajime was in charge of taking care of the flowers that adorned each table. He watered them, changed the decaying flowers for new ones, and cleaned their vases. But he never threw away the old flowers, he would just take them home with him and put them in his bedside table’s drawer. Why he did this, Hajime had no idea.

“School’s starting soon.” His mother told him one day as he cleaned the vases. “We’re going out to buy your uniform tomorrow, okay?”

“Do I have to go to school?” Hajime asked.

“Yes, dear. Unless you want to take care of flowers for the rest of your life.”

“But… I like taking care of the flowers.”

“Then you can do that, but first you need to learn how to solve some equations, okay?”

School didn’t actually sound too bad. He had met his cousins, who went to the same school he would, and they were really nice. But Shinji and Mika were not in the same grade as him, and Daichi would miss the first couple weeks of school because of a training camp he was going to at the South Water Tribe, so, at least for a while, he would be alone.

Mika was the oldest, already 17 years old, so Hajime didn’t get to know her as well as the others. She was pretty and nice, but talking to her 12 year old cousin from the Earth Kingdom seemed to not be on her list of things she would like to do on a Saturday, which he understood.

Shinji was Mika’s younger brother, also younger than Hajime by a year. He was hyperactive and talked a lot about everything, but he was nice and good company, albeit a little annoying at times. Although Hajime enjoyed spending time with his younger cousin, Daichi was his favourite.

Perhaps it was because they were the same age or simply because they were both incredibly alike. Hajime loved practising bending with Daichi, learning more about the fire and teaching his cousin about the earth.

“How’s school here?” Hajime asked once while they were practising, the day before Daichi left for the Water Tribe.

“It’s school, I think it’s the same everywhere in the world, you know?” Daichi answered, “You’ll be fine, Hajime, you don’t need to stress about it.”

“But what about Fire Nation History? I don’t know anything about that. And your weird maths and astronomy? I didn’t have astronomy in the Earth Kingdom.”

“It’s not that hard, you’ll see. I think most of the people in class have no idea how astronomy works and just write whatever comes to mind on their planet chart. Including myself.”

Hajime dropped down to lie on the grass. He looked up at the grey sky and just breathed in, his connection to the earth below him offering a solace amidst the unknown. “Who am I going to sit with at lunch while you’re gone?”

Daichi sat next to him and began placing blades of grass on Hajime’s face. “You’re scared you won’t make friends?” He asked.

“Everyone there already knows each other,” Hajime sighed, “I’m just the weird kid from the Earth Kingdom.”

“There are plenty of cool people there, you’ll find your new friends in no time!” Daichi offered him a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder, “What class are you in, anyway?”

“1B,” Said Hajime.

“Oh…”

Hajime sat up to look at his cousin, “Why ‘oh…’?”

“Nothing, don’t stress over it.”

“What class are _you_ in?”

“1D.”

“Dammit, even when you get back I’ll be alone in class!”

Daichi got up and offered Hajime a hand. Hajime took the blades of grass off his face and hair and accepted the hand, getting up from where he sat.

“There are some pretty nice guys in 1B, forget what I said,” Daichi punched him softly on the shoulder and Hajime chuckled, “Who knows, maybe you’ll meet you’ll meet your best friend in that classroom!”

“Yeah… maybe.”

“Or maybe the love of your life.”

“Alright, stop talking.”

 

* * *

 

 

The classroom was… dark. Burgundy walls and dark woods forming the tables and along the floor; big windows that somehow didn’t let much natural light through despite their size. It felt incredibly intimidating. Hajime sat in the far back corner of the room, next to one of the windows to see if it would be a bit lighter – it wasn’t.

To his right sat a kid with curly black hair and huge eyebrows, who was talking to the boy with brown hair that sat in front of huge-eyebrows-dude. They were talking rather loudly, something about the firebending tournament they went to in the previous week, and Hajime found it extremely annoying. The rest of the class seemed unfazed by the conversation, so it was probably a usual occurrence.

_So this is what Daichi meant about 1B, huh?_

It didn’t take long for the teacher to arrive, a tall lady probably in her late 40s, and the class fell silent as soon as she sat down on her desk. The seat in front of Hajime, he noticed, remained empty. The teacher went through a few papers and quickly scanned the class.

“Hello everyone, I hope you all had an enjoyable summer break and a nice rest” The teacher said, getting up from her chair, “Before we go back to business – and yes, Mr Hanamaki we will have class as usual today despite it being the very first day of class after the break – we have a new classmate joining us today, and he came all the way from Ba Sing Se so I ask you to show him our respect and kindness,” The teacher turned to Hajime and smiled, “Mr Iwaizumi, why don’t you come to the front of the class to introduce yourself?”

Hajime hesitantly got up from his chair, not really sure of what to do. Suddenly, he heard huge-eyebrows-dude call him with a subtle ‘psst’. Hajime turned to him and the boy mouthed, “You go like this,” before setting his left hand straight up and on top of his right fist. He bowed slightly and Hajime finally understood what he was doing – the boy was teaching him how to bow formally so he didn’t look like an idiot.

Hajime appreciated that a lot, actually.

He replicated the bow when he got to the front of the class and took a deep breath. “Hello,” He said, “My name is Hajime Iwaizumi, I just turned 13 a couple months ago and my mum and I moved here from Ba Sing Se in the fifth month of this year.”

The teacher smiled and Hajime stayed silent. He didn’t know what to do then – should he say a fun fact about himself? He didn’t have a fun fact. Hajime absentmindedly toyed with the strings of the bracelet he wore on his left wrist, which had belonged to his father. It offered some comfort, he thought.

Someone coughed. Hajime was still standing there.

“Well,” His teacher said, “I’m sure you will fit right in. Thank you, Mr Iwaizumi, you can go back to your seat. Oh, do you wish to remain there by the window, or would you like to change places?”

“No, no, by the window’s fine.”

“Okay, then, I’ll add that to the class record,” She wrote something down on a piece of paper as Hajime went back to his seat, “So you’re next to Mr Matsukawa and behind Mr Oikawa. Speaking of whom, does anyone know why he is absent today?”

“Your Highness has caught a cold,” The brown haired boy said in a monotonous voice, “Oh, the tragedy.”

 _Your Highness?,_ thought Hajime, _Does the Fire Lord’s son study here? Does the Fire Lord have a son? Wait… What’s the Fire Lord’s name again?_

“Mr Hanamaki, you must not speak ill of your friends. Especially when they are not here,” The teacher scolded, “But if you do see him today, tell him I hope he gets well soon. Seeing as only Mr Oikawa is absent, we can start with today’s lesson. Open your textbooks on page 109, we will be talking about the art of the Avatar Yangchen Period, starting with the Air Temples and the first diagrams of the Spirit World and the ink paintings of monk Kensu and fire priest Kao.”

As she wrote about the Air Nomads’ painting tradition on the board, Hajime turned to Matsukawa. “Hey,” He whispered, “Thanks for helping me, I really had no idea what to do there.”

“No problem, you looked like you were going to shit your pants,” Matsukawa replied and Hajime could feel his face turning a dark shade of red, “Hey, it’s okay, it happens to the best of us. Hanamaki did it last month.”

Upon hearing his name, Hanamaki turned to look at them, “Don’t believe him, new kid, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Yes I do. I’ll tell you about it during lunch break, if we keep talking Mrs Motomu _will_ throw that chalk at us.”

 

* * *

 

Issei Matsukawa and Takahiro Hanamaki were, without a doubt, the loudest, most obnoxious, _funniest_ people Hajime had ever met. And they seemed to take a liking in Hajime, he had no idea why but he wasn’t complaining, really. It felt like he had actual friends.

But there was something he just _had_ to ask them.

“You didn’t make it to the bathroom in time, ergo you shat your yourself, ergo I win.” Issei argued, shoving a full rice ball in his mouth.

“No, that’s not how it happened!” Exclaimed Makki, but before he could continue, Hajime spoke up.

“Can I ask you guys something?” He said.

Both boys looked at him for a while, Makki’s mouth hanging slightly open as he was about to speak, while Issei’s was just full of rice, stuffing his cheeks and a few grains overflowing from his mouth.

“Shoot,” They said in unison.

“Uh…”He hesitated, “Does the Fire Lord’s son study here?”

“No, he graduated a couple years ago,” Said Makki, “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just ‘cause you called the kid that sits in front of me ‘Your Highness’, so I thought –”

Without any warning, the two of them burst out laughing. It was a bit disgusting with the rice flying out of Issei’s mouth all over Hajime’s arm and it caught him completely off guard.

“Nah, it’s just Oikawa,” Said Makki, “He’s a little bitch and likes to think he’s better than everyone, but if anything happened to that boy I would kill everybody in the room and then myself.”

“Yeah, he’s our friend and the loudest, most obnoxious person I know, but he’s not too bad when he tries.” Issei added.

“And his name is Oikawa? That’s a weird name,” Hajime said.

“Oikawa is his last name,” Issei explained, “His actual name is Tooru, but he’ll probably hit you if you call him that.”

“Dude’s so far up his own ass, he asks people to call him by his last name just so we have no doubt he comes from the richest family in the Fire Nation.” Makki added, “He probably doesn’t even know what a copper piece is.”

“Does he –” Hajime began saying, but was soon interrupted.

“You’ll meet Oikawa tomorrow, don’t worry about it.” Issei said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Yeah, Hajime, and then you can ask him all the questions you want!” Makki added. “As soon as you see a kid landing a black dragon in the courtyard and then enter the classroom like he’s the fucking Fire Lord, that’s when you know it’s him.”

Hajime really couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

 

* * *

 

 

He was not joking.

Hajime arrived at school the following day just in time to see it. A dragon – its scales as dark as the night sky, glistening in the sun like stars, landing in the grassy part of the courtyard. On its back was a saddle; it was a cream colour, encrusted with dark blue gems and gold, it made the dragon look even more regal. But it was nowhere near the same level as the person riding it.

It was a boy, probably Hajime’s age, and he made the school uniform and his skinny frame look like it came straight out of the Fire Palace. His hair framed his face like silk, a golden headdress placed softly upon it; his skin looked like porcelain, and his head was held high, as though he knew he was better than everyone there – and he most likely did.

The boy climbed down from his dragon and petted it for a couple seconds. It then curled up into a ball and seemed to fall asleep. The boy walked into the school building, head still high, and Hajime understood what Makki meant when he said “Your Highness”. That kid could easily pass as the crowned prince.

The Royal Fire Academy was a school for the elite, enrolment was exclusive to the Fire Nation nobility. But not all of them were high nobility; Hajime himself was a proof of that. But the kids that attended the school had money and it showed, it showed on their hair and their skin and the accessories. They all looked the part, honestly, but then that kid was the epitome of nobility and wealth just from the way he walked, not to mention his headdress or his face or his dragon.

Tooru Oikawa was something else entirely.

When Hajime arrived in the classroom, Oikawa was already sitting at the desk next to Makki, talking to him and Issei. When Hajime got closer, he noticed something he couldn’t see from afar. He saw Oikawa’s eyes, they were cold and calculating but it also looked like he had seen too much and didn’t want people to notice it. He looked like a scared child in the body of a fearless prince.

Hajime made his way to his desk, sitting down and already taking out his things from his bag. He could feel Oikawa’s eyes following his every move, just waiting for him to finish setting his things down before asking –

“And you are…?”

Hajime looked up at Oikawa, at the brown eyes that studied his face thoroughly, the brown eyes that looked much older than 13 years of age.

“Hajime Iwaizumi,” He said.

“I’m Oikawa.”

“Takahiro Hanamaki,” Makki said, throwing a paper ball at Oikawa’s face.

“I’m Issei Matsukawa, the weird kid over there is Yuda, Makki has a crush on Risa, Oikawa stop intimidating poor Hajime.”

Oikawa crossed his legs and turned to look at Makki and Issei. He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. “I’m only trying to get to know him better,” He said, “If there is a new student in our midst, I need to talk to him to see if he is worthy of my attention or if he should be moved to the other end of the classroom.”

“He can’t sit anywhere but here, Mrs Motomu’s already added it to the class record. Get fucked,” Makki said, throwing another paper ball at Oikawa, “Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten sick on the first day.”

That was when Hajime noticed that, despite the fact that Oikawa was the most regal being he had ever seen in his life, Makki and Issei were still mocking him. After they got to know each other better, Hajime realised why they did it. At first he thought Makki and Issei didn’t like Oikawa, but then why were they friends?

But Hajime subconsciously started doing it too; calling Oikawa a brat, a dumbass, obnoxious, childish. It wasn’t because he didn’t like Oikawa, but because he seemed so perfect and untouchable, emphasising what appeared to be his only flaws was the only way to remember Oikawa was human.

For a long while that was what he did, but Hajime wanted to know more. Looking back, maybe that was where he went wrong.

 

* * *

 

 

“What are you doing on Saturday?” Oikawa asked on the way back from school. It was one of the rare days when Makki didn’t go back with Hajime and Oikawa, in favour of hanging out with Issei at the Matsukawa’s ice cream parlour.

He imagined Rin wasn’t complaining, though – just one less literal weight on her back. It took Hajime two years but he was finally getting used to flying on the dragon’s back. He was still scared to death of falling, but at least he didn’t have his eyes closed during the entire flight anymore.

“I’m not babysitting Takeru again,” Hajime answered.

“But I have firebending practise!”

“Tough shit, you shouldn’t have told Naoko you would babysit for her then,” Hajime paused, “Listen, he’s a nice kid and actually like babysitting him but I have to help out at my nan’s teashop.”

Oikawa sighed, “Guess he’ll have to babysit himself then. It’s fine, he’s a big boy and can take care of himself.”

“No. Fucking – idiot, he’s five. Take him to the arena with you, dumbass.”

Oikawa groaned and lowered his head in defeat, “Fine, I’ll take him with me. Naoko won’t be happy, though.”

“I’m sure she’ll live.”

They remained silent for a moment, but Hajime heard Oikawa mutter, “I don’t want him to meet Ushijima.”

“Ushijima?” Hajime asked, confused, “Doesn’t he train under Master Washijou? Why is he at Aoba Johsai?”

“Washijou’s at a conference in Shu Jing. All of the guys from Shiratorizawa Arena have been training at Aoba Johsai for a couple weeks. They mostly stay on their side minding their own business, but Ushijima just _has_ to show off with his fancy blue fire.”

“So _that’s_ why you’ve been so pissed off all the time. You know the blue fire thing doesn’t mean he’s better than you right? You’re an amazing firebender, Oikawa, who gives a shit about Ushijima?”

“Still,” Oikawa said, “He’s a fecking bastard.”

Hajime frowned, confused. _Well_ , he thought, _that was weird_. Even though he was sitting behind him, Hajime saw Oikawa’s mouth moving, but the words that came out didn’t seem to be spoken by him. The accent they were spoken in was crude, almost dirty.

“Oi, idiot, what’s with the accent?”

“What accent?” Oikawa asked.

“The one you did just now. It sounded like the guys from the harbour,” Hajime explained. He probably imagined the way Oikawa’s shoulders went stiff.

“Hajime, I think you’ve been out in the sun too long, it’s killing what little brain cells you have! Thank the spirits, we’re almost at your house.”

“Shut up, dumbass!”

“Hajime~ is ‘dumbass’ the only insult you know?”

“I swear to Raava I’m gonna hit you,” Hajime threatened, “I’ll drop by on Saturday to pick up Takeru after lunch.”

“What about the teashop?”

“I’ll ask Daichi to cover for me. Please kick Ushijima’s ass during the one-on-one practise, Shittykawa.”

“What kind of nickname is that?”

With the banter, Hajime forgot all about the weird accent. It faded to the back of his mind until that night, before he went to sleep. In hindsight, maybe Hajime really _had_ imagined it. Tooru Oikawa was the at the height of nobility, the chances of him knowing what a harbour accent sounded like, and even considering mimicking it, were very unlikely. The image of Oikawa walking around Harbour City was ridiculous to imagine, it was absurd.

If there was one place in the world Hajime was sure Oikawa had never set foot on, that place was Harbour City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This marks the end of the prologue, next chapter shit begins to go down! Remember when I said there's angst in this fic? I feel like I haven't stressed this enough - THERE IS ANGST IN THIS FIC!
> 
> Btw this fic is now bataed! That doesn't look like it's spelt right but hey, thanks Evie <3 So yay for no more mistakes and if there are any it's not my fault noice


	3. The Nobleman in Imperial Square

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Good morning, Your Highness, you look like shit,” Jabbed Makki as soon as Oikawa sat down at his desk.
> 
> Oikawa stuck his tongue at him. “Didn’t get much sleep, I think I need a new mattress,” He said, finishing the tea he had bought earlier.
> 
> “I think you need a good punch in the face,” said Hajime, “Maybe that’ll knock some sense into that thick head of yours. Seriously, one of these days you’ll start pissing black tea. I bet that’s why you can’t sleep well, you drink so much of this stuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *halfway through japanese test*
> 
> Brain: yo
> 
> Me: oh hey good thing you're here. there's this bit here that i have no idea what's going on. why is it bokura ni instead of-
> 
> Brain: no i'm not here for that
> 
> Me: wut
> 
> Brain: yeah you haven't updated your fic since april
> 
> Me: wut
> 
> Brain: yeah, tough shit anyway bye good luck on your test
> 
>  
> 
> Well that was the biggest creative slump of my entire life I'm so sorry.

The arena was silent. It was dark and cold and absolutely silent. Oikawa had no idea what time it was, how long he had been there, how long he had until the cleaning lady came in at 6AM sharp. He didn't care much.

He took a deep breath, concentrating his energy on his hands and feet. He altered his stance, distributing his weight equally between both legs and putting his arms up in a defensive position.  _ ‘Beginning Attack Stance #7, when against a more powerful opponent’ _ . He would focus on defence and quick attacks. Oikawa punched the air with his left hand.

Warmth spread through his knuckles, engulfing his whole fist. The dark room was suddenly bright with the orange glow of the flames travelling from Oikawa’s hand towards the empty space in front of him. It was a weak stream of fire, could be easily redirected or extinguished. ‘ _Counter-attack_ _manoeuvre #59, for when your stream gets redirected by taller opponent.’_ Oikawa ducked away from the imaginary redirected stream.

He concentrated his entire weight on his fingertips and did a kip-up, launching another stream from his feet. That one was a lot better.  _ Go for _ o _ ffensive if opponent fails to immediately dissipate the previous attack. _

Oikawa produced a fire pinwheel, rotating his torso to charge it and… exposed his back. If he were fighting Ushijima, he would already be on the ground. The pinwheel dissipated and Oikawa threw a fireball at the opposite wall, screaming in frustration.

The fireball seared the wall pretty badly; Oikawa could still feel the energy in his veins and the warmth on his fingertips. His anger fuelled attacks were becoming more powerful and that was dangerous. 

As soon as the warmth and the light of the fire came, it went; the arena was once again cold and dark and absolutely silent. 

He took a deep breath and sat down on the floor.

Sweat was dripping down from his face, his muscles ached like a bitch and, gods, he was tired. Oikawa let out a shaky breath. He heard the heavy door to the arena open then close, and someone's footsteps walking over to him calmly.

6AM.

“Hello Mrs Liu,” He rose to his feet to greet her. 

“Good morning, Tooru, dear,” Mrs Liu reached for his arm in the darkness. Once she found it, she gave it a firm squeeze and grabbed his hand, “When did you get here?”

Outside, the sun was beginning to rise, slowly illuminating the arena and the two people inside. Oikawa could now see Mrs Liu’s greying black hair and thick framed glasses, her eyes always kind and her lips always curled up in a gentle smile.

Mrs Liu did all of the cleaning before the morning classes began. Because she always got there at 6AM, and because Oikawa usually left a little after that, they became acquainted with each other after a while. It was always the same thing: they talked, she scolded him, he said he wouldn’t stay in so late next time, and then he did anyway. It’s not like Oikawa did it every day, practise almost 11 hours straight. Only twice a week, maybe three times, four when he had a competition – but never more than five. Except once, but that was when he was young and naïve at the tender age of last month.

“Just a couple hours ago,” He said.

“And you’re already sweating like a pig? Tooru, tell me the truth,” Mrs. Liu said, knowingly.

“Yesterday for practise,” Oikawa averted his eyes, “Around seven, seven thirty.”

“Are you ‘sleeping at your friend’s Hajime’s house’?”

“It's not like they trust Makki enough to let me sleep over at his place on a weekday,” He chuckled, “I'm scared to know what my parents think I'm doing in Hajime’s house so much.”

“You can always tell the truth.”

“I can't, they'd kill me. Mum already says I spend way too much time practising here, if she found out she'd lock me in my room.”

“When was the last time you even slept?”

“I got three hours in yesterday before school, I'm good,” Mrs Liu looked at him with a disbelieving look. “Really,” He added.

She sighed. “Go home Tooru.”

“I’ll take a bath then grab breakfast over at the bakery on High Garden Square.”

“Then home?”

“Then school.”

“I don’t know what to do with you, dear.”

Oikawa chuckled and began making his way to the changing room. “I don’t have practise tonight, I’ll try to get some sleep after I do my homework; Might even get five hours, who knows. See you on Friday?”

“I hope to Raava I don’t see you here Friday, Tooru.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Good morning, Your Highness, you look like shit,” Jabbed Makki as soon as Oikawa sat down at his desk.

Oikawa stuck his tongue at him. “Didn’t get much sleep, I think I need a new mattress,” He said, finishing the tea he had bought earlier.

“I think you need a good punch in the face,” said Hajime, “Maybe that’ll knock some sense into that thick head of yours. Seriously, one of these days you’ll start pissing black tea. I bet that’s why you can’t sleep well, you drink so much of this stuff.”

“You guys are so mean to me! Where’s Issei? He always has my back.”

“Issei literally never agrees with you,” Said Makki, “And he does it more out of spite than anything.”

“Oi, Shittykawa, don’t change the subject!” Hajime lightly hit the back of his head, “Promise that you’ll sleep today.”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Said Oikawa, “I get home at five, I’ll sleep until ten, then do my homework and study until seven-”

“That’s not how life works, dipshit,” Interrupted Makki. He rolled his eyes and leaned over to flick Oikawa’s forehead. “You study and do your homework from five ‘til ten then you sleep.”

“Fuck, Oikawa, any day now you’ll pass out in the middle of the corridor from exhaustion,” Mumbled Hajime. Oikawa chose to ignore his friends who, while not mistaken in their nagging, were still a huge pain in the ass.

Issei got there not long after, and the conversation changed topic. Still, Oikawa could see that Hajime was worried about him. He didn’t like the way his friend was looking at him, but he also didn’t want people to worry over him. 

So Oikawa put on a smile, straightened his back and pretended he wasn’t as tired as he really was. That was basically what he already did on the daily, anyway.

 

* * *

 

By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Hajime had already had enough of Oikawa’s bullshit. He knew Oikawa had some insomnia problems but this was getting ridiculous; with every passing day his dark circles got bigger, he downed black tea like water, and his attention span was now closer to that of a chicken. 

Hajime could see it throughout the day, the way Oikawa’s hands trembled from the caffeine and how his handwriting was getting messier and messier. Hajime had to do something. 

“Oi, Shittykawa!” Hajime ran to catch up to him, dodging the other students in the corridor - albeit poorly, seeing as he collided with a couple of them. Oikawa was waiting for him just outside of the door to the courtyard, winking at some girls who passed by. Hajime almost turned around and left.

He shoved Oikawa with a bit more force than he meant to, face twisting into a scowl. “Don't just run off after the bell rings, dipshit, you're my ride.”

“Not my fault you're as slow as a snail tortoise, Hajime~” Oikawa answered with a grin. 

“I’m not slow, you just bolted out of the door.”

“Yeah, sure. Shall we go now? We could just stay here and talk, but Makki is alone with Rin and probably attempting to feed her his left hand right now.”

“Left foot, probably.”

“Hand.”

“Foot.”

“Hand.”

“Foot.”

“Hand.”

“Five silvers.”

“You’re on.”

Rin was in her usual spot, curled up around a fountain far back in the courtyard, while Hanamaki sat in front of her looking directly into her eyes. Rin looked bored as all hell, perhaps a bit annoyed too, definitely holding back from squashing Makki right then and there. 

“So do you just not eat humans,” Said Hanamaki, “Or is it just ‘cause I'm friends with Oikawa? I mean, if it's that one I can stop talking to him, he's a dick anyway.”

It was during moments like these that Hajime remembered how much time Rin and Oikawa spent together, when Rin rolled her eyes so far back that her head moved with them, and she let out a dramatic huff of breath to show just how done she was with Makki. When Hajime looked over at Oikawa, he was doing the exact same thing.

“I heard that, Makki!” He exclaimed. “Stop trying to feed yourself to my dragon.”

“It’s for science! And to end the pain of existence, but mostly science.” Makki yelled back. “It’s just my foot, I don’t even use it half the time.”

“Alright, I’m not having this fucked up discussion again,” said Hajime, intervening, “Just pay up, Oikawa.”

Oikawa tsked, shoving a hand in his bag to get the money. He then all but threw it at Hajime’s face and began climbing onto Rin’s back. “Honestly, Makki, you’re not helping me out here.”

“That’s my mission in life, mate.”

Hajime put the money in his pocket and climbed onto Rin, right behind Oikawa, and Makki soon followed. They stayed silent as Rin took off, but as they began to turn in the direction of Hajime’s house, he spoke up. 

“Hey, I need to study for this precalc test, so I’m going over to your house so you can help me,” He said, “No need to drop me off today.”

“Oh, alright then.” Oikawa shrugged and they began making their way to Imperial Square.

Hajime wasn’t going to pretend that his family didn’t have a fair amount of money - they were by no means rich, but anyone who lived in Royal Caldera was pretty well-off. However, Imperial Square was something to be admired. 

Imperial Square was place where most Fire Nation nobility would spend their free time, and it was beautiful. Well kept gardens, with artificial ponds where colourful koi fish swam around the water lilies, and cherry trees that coloured the whole place pink during spring. At night the lanterns all around the square would be lit, reflecting on the water and casting an orange glow on the leaves of the shrubbery and the cobblestones of the ground. Hajime really liked going there at night.

There were five houses around Imperial Square; Two to the south of the square, two to the west, and one east. The most northern side of the square faced a gate, which led to a path to the Fire Lord’s Palace. 

The houses all belonged to the highest ranking officers in the Fire Nation’s Army and Navy - General Mun, General Kozume, and Admiral Jeon were the ones Hajime only knew because Oikawa told him, and he didn’t know which house belonged to whom. The other two houses he was more familiar with; High Admiral Hanamaki’s to the west and High General Oikawa to the east. 

They dropped Makki off at his house and went over to the Oikawas’. Rin landed near the stables, and soon the servants showed up to greet the “Young Master and his guest”, bringing them a way-too-fancy glass of water with mint leaves and jasmine petals as well as some food for Rin. 

“Thank you Jiro,” Oikawa said with a smile, returning his empty glass to the young man that had brought them water. Hajime quickly finished it and returned his as well. 

“Mr Iwaizumi, would you like me to send your mother a falcon to tell her you are here?” Jiro asked. 

“Yeah, that'd be nice. Thanks Jiro.” Hajime answered. 

Behind them two other men removed the riding gear from Rin and began washing her scales. Oikawa turned back to pet her and give her a kiss on the top of her head; whispering something to her that Hajime couldn’t hear.

“Ah, also, Young Master,” Called Jiro, “your mother told me she wishes to speak to you.”

“My mother?” Oikawa asked, turning to look at Jiro. “Is it about the festival?”

“I… do not know, sir. My apologies.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. Do you know what’s for dinner?”

“Fried kodomo chicken with lychee nuts rice, sir. Lemon tart for dessert.”

Hajime tried to hide his excitement, after all he was only going to eat leftover sea slug for dinner, but this was much better. Oikawa also seemed happy, Hajime knew how much he loved lychee nuts rice.

“Sounds delicious,” said Oikawa. “You pack some for you and your sister, Jiro. You’re dismissed for the rest of the day, go take care of her, alright?”

“Thank you, sir,” Jiro smiled and bowed. He went back to the house to, Hajime presumed, get the food and go home.

“C’mon Hajime,” Oikawa called, “we can talk to my mum and then I’ll teach your simple brain about numbers!”

“My simple brain?”

Oikawa didn’t grace him with a reply, just grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the house. Once inside, they started looking for Mrs Oikawa but were almost immediately interrupted by the small human that appeared seemingly from thin air and tackled Oikawa to the ground.

“Welcome home, uncle Tooru!” Yelled the six-year-old. 

“Takeru, I think you broke my face,” Said Oikawa, voice muffled from having his face pressed down against the marble floor. Takeru sat on Oikawa’s back, pushing the collar of the man’s tunic in an attempt to get him to turn around.

“Uncle Tooru, did you get the special cards I asked you?” 

“Are you even happy to see me at all?”

“I am if you have the platinum badger mole and the special edition Avatar Kuruk with the full moon advantage ability.”

“It’s in my bag, you conniving little jerk.”

Takeru jumped out of Oikawa’s back and forced the bag out of his shoulder. Once he got what he wanted, he ran towards his bedroom yelling, “Thanks uncle Tooru! Hi Hajime, bye Hajime.”

“Wait, Takeru,” Oikawa called, “where’s your mum?”

“Living room upstairs!”

“Where’s my mum?”

“No idea!”

After a few seconds of silence, Oikawa sighed. He got up from the floor and picked up his bag. “So disrespectful towards his uncle.”

“You called him a conniving little jerk,” Hajime pointed out.

“I don’t see your point.”

They walked up the stairs in silence towards one of the many living rooms in the Oikawa household. They found Naoko dusting the shelves, humming the tune of one of the songs from the play that was currently running in the theatre downtown. Oikawa plopped down on the couch, taking up as much space as he could and whining, “Naoooookooooo.”

Hajime shoved Oikawa's legs off the couch for him to sit. “Hi, Naoko,” he greeted, since Oikawa had as many manners as a child from the harbour who had never talked to an adult before.  _ Someone _ had to be polite at least. “How have you been?”

“Hey, Hajime!” Naoko turned around to look at both of them, “I'm great, how are you?”

“Good, it's getting colder so I've been helping out a lot at the teashop, studying for my tests too, trying not to kill Oikawa, the usual.”

“Sounds tiring. How's your mother? Your grandmother?”

“They're good. Mum started that book you lent her, she really-”

“Excuse me,” interrupted Oikawa, “can we talk about my problem?”

Naoko laughed. “What did Takeru do now, Tooru?”

“Remember when he asked me for those special Nations cards?” She nodded. “Well I bought them for him, got them from a collector and they cost me a fortune!”

“Let me guess. He didn't speak to you, he just wanted the cards.”

“Not even a proper thanks, or a ‘how did you get them uncle Tooru? Must have been super hard!’ He only talks to me to ask for special edition cards.”

“I'll talk to him.”

“Thanks.”

“He likes you, Tooru, but he's scared of you noble people, thinks you're more important than him and all tha,” Oikawa clicked his tongue. “Don't be like that. He actually reminds me a lot of a little kid that got here ten years ago and was  _ also  _ scared of every-”

“Okay!” Oikawa stood up suddenly, startling both Hajime and Naoko. “I have to teach Hajime about numbers now so we'll be in my room. Call us when dinner is served. Thank you, c’mon Hajime.”

“You do know I'm not your dog, right?” Hajime asked. 

“You do want to pass pre-calc, right?”

Hajime hesitated.  _ Goddammit, Oikawa, I wanted to hear the story.  _ He got up from the couch and apologised to Naoko for cutting their conversation short. 

Oikawa's room was so incredibly Oikawa in every aspect; over-the-top, dripping with displays of how much money he actually had, and overall just a bit much. Hajime remembered his first time entering the room all those years ago and thinking that probably not even the Fire Lord himself had a room like that. Just how spoiled could this kid be? Spoiled rotten, he later found out. 

The bed was huge, with silk drapes all around it and like a billion thread count Earth Kingdom cotton bedding; the walk in closet had enough clothes to dress the entire city  _ twice;  _ the desk had little glass containers with all kinds of ink, of every colour, it had quills and wolf-goat hair brushes, books from all around the world, everything was on that desk; and Hajime still couldn't believe that the bastard had a fountain and a bamboo garden inside his room. It was ridiculous but it was all so very comfortable. 

But also so,  _ so  _ ridiculous. 

While Oikawa got his books and a few sheets of paper, Hajime noticed the box of Nations cards on the desk. It was from the latest edition, so Oikawa must have bought them recently. He picked up the box, turning it in his hands before turning to Oikawa. 

“Hey, Numbnuts,” He called. 

“ _ What _ did you call me?”

Hajime showed him the box. “Why are you complaining about how Takeru only talks to you to ask for cards but bought him a whole motherfucking box?”

“Hajime, such a potty mouth. And those are not for Takeru,” Oikawa sat down, waving a hand dismissively, “those are mine.”

That wouldn't have sounded so off if Nations wasn't a childish game. But it was. Simple rules, simple gameplay, silly story, it was something targeted towards 5-9 year-olds. Most people gave it up after they turned 12, preferring games like Pai Sho or, if they just liked card games, Joo Nashi. 

“You bought a kid's game? For yourself?”

“I always wanted to play Nations when I was a kid.” Oikawa said. 

“You didn't? Why? I mean, you just had to buy some cards, I'm sure like Makki or your cousins would have played with you.”

“I-” He paused. “I just didn't want to bother my parents. It was a silly commoner’s game and I definitely had better stuff.”

“You've always been a pretentious asshole haven't you?”

“So mean to me, Hajime!”

They didn't talk about the game anymore, or about anything that wasn't pre-calc actually, focusing on studying for the test. It was only when Naoko called them down for dinner that Hajime remembered her story, about another kid who lived with the Oikawas ten years ago. He wondered who it would be, probably one of the servants.  _ But damn,  _ Hajime thought,  _ I never got to hear the end of that story. _

 

* * *

 

During dinner, Oikawa talked to his mother about the Autumn Festival. He had volunteered to do a presentation with artistic firebending, but had yet to find a teacher, seeing as most of them were training for an upcoming competition and just didn't have the time. 

There was also the problem of the Northern Water Tribe Chief and his family that were coming to visit the Fire Lord within a week, Lu Ten having been assigned the role of welcoming them and Oikawa had to deal with the youngest son of the Chief, who would be staying with them throughout the visit, as the kid was not partaking in the military meetings like his father. Add all that to the upcoming joint practises with Nekoma Firebending School and Shiratorizawa Arena, and Hajime was pretty sure Oikawa was about to explode. 

No wonder he wasn't sleeping. 

But Hajime was not just going to sit and watch his friend die of exhaustion. He had actually forgotten, but that was why he went to his house tonight in the first place - make Oikawa fucking sleep. So, as soon as they went back to Oikawa's room, Hajime pushed him into bed. 

“Sleep,” He said, harshly. 

“What the- Hajime, we're not done revising, there's still a lot to-”

“Don't give a shit, I'll be fine, you need to  _ sleep.  _ So fucking sleep.”

“Is that why you came here? To make me sleep?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, dear gods Hajime, I'm getting plenty of rest, I told you not to worry.”

“Oikawa if you don't close your eyes and sleep right now I will knock you out, I swear.”

“Fine!” Oikawa yelled. “But let me get changed first? Brush my teeth, all that jazz. Just because you don't care about personal hygiene doesn't mean we're all like that.”

“Asshole,” Hajime scoffed, “Yeah, alright, go on.”

Hajime only left after he checked if Oikawa was really sleeping. Kaori insisted that he let their coachman drive him home, it was pretty late after all. 

Drawing the carriage window’s curtain back, Hajime looked out at Imperial Square. He rested his head on the wall, admiring the passing trees and the beautiful lanterns that reflect on the water. He imagined Oikawa sitting on that bench by the big fountain, golden light reflecting on the water then on his face. 

Imperial Square was really beautiful at night.

 

* * *

 

The arena was cold. It was dark and silent and unbearably cold. Oikawa laid down on the floor, breathing heavy after he finally managed to complete a particularly tricky move. One in a sea of failure.  _ Gods  _ the ground was cold. 

They had had joint practise with Nekoma that afternoon, and Oikawa had been way too infuriated with how good the skinny kid with long hair was. He… he had to get better. Had to learn new moves. Had to  _ win.  _ Just once. 

He heard the doors to the arena open then close. Heard the footsteps of someone approaching him. Outside, the sun was beginning to rise, casting a warm glow across the arena, and at least it wasn't dark anymore. 

6AM. 

“Hello, Tooru, dear.”

“Good morning, Mrs Liu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday Oikawa!!
> 
> beata-ed by the beatiful Evie, the best fake girlfriend there is <3
> 
> Follow her: onceihadalifenowihaveablog.tumblr.com
> 
> Follow me: royal-society-of-pandas.tumblr.com
> 
> no i still don't know how to insert links in this goddamn thing, i'm just a constant source of disappointment

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream about anime with me over at royal-society-of-pandas.tumblr.com <3
> 
> Please leave kudos and comment, it really helps me out and I need that Validation


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